Single mum prostitution 'hearsay': govt

REPORTS that some single mothers had turned to prostitution and stripping following welfare cuts to sole parents were "hearsay", the federal government says.

The benefit cuts came in at the start of 2013 and will affect about 84,000 single parents, mostly mothers who receive parenting payments.

AAP revealed on Sunday two brothels in Melbourne and Brisbane have since experienced an "influx" of applications from single mothers looking for work, while others sought work at strip clubs.

Under the welfare changes, single parents are being shifted from parenting payments onto the Newstart unemployment allowance when their youngest child turns eight years old, which means a drop in weekly income of between $60 to $100.

Minister for the Status of Women Julie Collins dismissed the reports as "hearsay", but added that the government was looking at providing more support for low-income Australians.

"It was hearsay in a newspaper article. I don't know where the evidence is or what it says," she told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.

"When it comes to low-income families, we understand they have been doing it tough and we as a government are looking at what we can do to support them."

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said reports of single mothers resorting to prostitution and stripping are "fairly lurid".

"I certainly would hope that there's nothing in them," he told reporters in Brisbane.

"I understand the concerns people have here, particularly given the government's winding back of employment services."

Mr Abbott said it was important to have the right services to help adjustment back into the work place.

"But on the fundamental principle, I want to make this very clear, the best form of welfare is work," he said.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced she would endorse Olympic gold medallist Nova Peris as Labor's number one Senate candidate for the Northern Territory.

Ms Peris was a single mother for many years, raising her daughter Jessica and juggling the demands of training and work.

Asked if she supported the welfare cuts, she replied she understood they were being made to support young mothers back into the work force.

"I understand whole-heartedly how hard it is to be a single mother," Ms Peris told reporters in Canberra.